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Perec Takes On Double Mission

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She is a native of Guadeloupe, lives in Hollywood and runs for the French Olympic team. Now Marie-Jose Perec is making huge splash in Atlanta.

Grace. Fearlessness. Confidence.

While Michael Johnson embarks on his well-publicized quest for a historic double, and Carl Lewis crusades for a spot on the United States Olympic team, Perec has quietly dazzled the audience here with the seemingly effortless ease and grace with which she has dominated competition.

Perec warmed the track for Johnson on Monday when she set an Olympic record in the 400. She won the race in 48.25 seconds, a comfortable 38-tenths of a second ahead of Cathy Freeman of Australia. Few noticed that Perec pulled the second- and third-place finishers higher: Freeman set an Oceania record and Fali Ogunkoya of Nigeria set an African record.

After a day off, Perec was back on the track today beginning her attempt to win a medal in the 200 meters.

The women's world record in the 400, 47.60 by Marita Koch of Germany in 1985, was set at a time when athletes from the Eastern bloc nations were suspected of, and in some cases proven, to use performance-enhancing drugs.

Earlier this month, Perec said, ''That record is not human; it's not possible.''

After winning the gold medal at the Barcelona Games in 1992, she said her winning time, 48.03, was the legitimate time.

In the intervening years, as she has gained strength and confidence, Perec no longer regards Koch's mark as beyond reach.

This is part of an evolution that began on Guadeloupe where she was raised by her grandmother. She moved to France when she was 14 after a French coach timed her in a 200-meter race in Guadeloupe and informed her that she had qualified for the French National team.

Perec was dropped by the French coach Jack Piasenta in 1994 after skipping the European indoor championships. That led her to her current coach, John Smith, who she credits with instilling in her a heightened self confidence and a quiet killer attitude.

''He has a way of approaching things that's much more positive than I was used to,'' she said. ''He puts my goals very, very high and it's worked. As time goes on, I begin to believe that the 400-meter record might be possible.''

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In the past, Perec was content to simply run fast; Smith conditioned her to run to break records.

''He told me I was wrong not to think about the world record,'' she said. ''I think I'm exceptional. I know that sounds pretty American, but he has an American way of expressing himself. In France, I didn't think I was exceptional. That's what he's brought to me.''

Ato Bolden, the men's 100-meter bronze medalist, said that Perec reminded him of the deadly Venus Flytrap, a flower that lures prey with sweet fragrance and appealing looks.

''People think she's timid,'' Bolden said. ''That is a mistake.''

Perec doesn't crush the opposition like Johnson, or step on it like Gail Devers. She sails past the field, easily, virtually expressionless. She can be disarmingly unassuming. At the same time Perec is aware of how she affects her competitors. During the track and field trials, Perec noted with typical candor: ''When I run, the other girls freeze. They run slower when I am there.''